Your questions, answered "My wife is pregnant and is also a healthcare worker, so she can get the Pfizer booster through her job. It is unclear to me whether the CDC recommends the booster for pregnant women. Is that published anywhere?" — David in Tennessee The short answer is she may get a booster shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though the agency reserves stronger language — should, not may — for certain groups including people 65 and up. People are eligible for Pfizer boosters based on criteria that include age, occupation and medical conditions. From the information in your question, it appears your wife would be eligible because she is a health-care worker and also because she is pregnant. (Though I'd encourage her to talk to her doctor about this, as the CDC says people eligible in this manner ought to weigh "their individual benefits and risks." If she is one of the very rare people who are 50 or older and pregnant, then the CDC would say she should get a booster.) Pregnancy is considered an underlying medical condition for covid-19. That's because women and other individuals who are pregnant and develop covid-19 have elevated risks of severe outcomes, including death. There have been 22,000 hospitalizations and 161 deaths among pregnant patients with covid-19. Twenty-two pregnant patients died in August alone, per the CDC, which is the highest monthly toll yet reported. As for getting first shots when pregnant, the CDC's answer is an emphatic yes. This is so important — and not enough pregnant patients are getting shots — that the agency released a health advisory this week. Per agency data, 32 percent of the pregnant population were fully immunized, compared with 56 percent of the general U.S. population. On Wednesday, the agency called for "urgent action" to get vaccinated for anyone who is pregnant, recently pregnant, trying or may become pregnant in the future. This alert reflects the evolution of the CDC's thinking, as more information has become available. At the start of the year, when coronavirus vaccines were first available and data about receiving them during pregnancies were limited, the agency said those who were pregnant were eligible. But it officially had a neutral stance on these immunizations. By August, CDC officials had enough data to update its advice from neutral to an endorsement: Yes, pregnant patients should get vaccinated. They do not have increased risks of miscarriage or harm to their babies, studies such as this observational report in the New England Journal of Medicine show. What's more, some evidence suggests that vaccinated women can pass immune protection to infants, by sharing antibodies through breast milk. | 
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